Our Me-Wuk Neighbors: Part of History, Partners in Community

As we celebrate Tuolumne County’s 175th year, we’re reminded that our history began long before white men came to make their fortunes as gold miners. Yes, the white man brought progress and prosperity but also the beginning of the end to a centuries-old way of life for the Me-Wuk tribes. We are deeply honored that both Chicken Ranch Rancheria and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians have chosen to sponsor the 2025 49er Festival at the highest level: joining Visit Tuolumne County as Festival Partners. 

Both are federally-recognized tribes with rich histories marked by triumph over adversity. Their federal status was a long time coming and hard-fought. The Tuolumne Band gained federal recognition by Congress in 1910 but it would take until 1935 for the Tribe’s constitution and by-laws to be ratified. In 1958, the California Rancheria Act terminated recognition of 41 rancherias, including Chicken Ranch. By 1961, tribal status was revoked and the trust status of lands was terminated, leading to distribution amongst adult residents. It took until 1985 and a class action lawsuit representing a diverse array of California tribes for Chicken Ranch Rancheria to formally regain federal recognition. By that time, only one tribal member, Inez Mathiesen, retained a 3-acre parcel remaining from the original reservation. 

According to Southern Tuolumne County Historical Society, “the Sierra Me-Wuk population was drastically reduced from 10,000, prior to outside contact, to less than 700 in 1910. Me-Wuk camps were scattered all around the Big Oak Flat-Groveland area. Pigliku, also called Big Creek Rancheria because of its location, was one of the larger Me-Wuk sites. 

With their land usurped, resources defiled, and numbers reduced to less than 20 at Big Creek in 1917, the few remaining Me-Wuk left the area. Some went to the federally designated land, the Tuolumne Rancheria near Tuolumne City. In 1970 their Big Creek Rancheria location was inundated by the dammed waters of Big Creek which now form Pine Mountain Lake.” (source: grovelandmuseum.org/native-american)

With federal recognition came the opportunity to establish tribal gaming, and we can all be thankful for that. Tuolumne County now boasts two world-class casino resorts. And although their tribal status exempts them from paying Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) to Tuolumne County’s General Fund, the Tribes are two of the County’s largest employers and both fund cultural and community-focused programs that keep on giving back across the region. Both also make substantial investments in marketing programs to attract visitors to our region. Recently, both Tribes invested millions to expand and improve their own casino/resort operations and have traditionally supported major projects and programs across the county.

For example, Chicken Ranch Rancheria has established, and continues to expand their publicly-available medical care facilities in and around Jamestown. Both tribes have fire departments that participate in the Mutual Aid Agreements with neighboring agencies (CalFire-Tuolumne Calavaras Unit, Tuolumne County Fire, Groveland, Modesto, and Stanislaus Consolidated, to name a few) to ensure residents receive the best possible response, regardless of where response is needed. Last year, Chicken Ranch Rancheria announced the Tribe’s return to the Groveland area with their majority interest in the newly-opened Firefall Ranch Resort, just a stone’s throw from the former tribal lands of Pigliku, Big Creek Rancheria.

The “49ers” who came to mine gold in the central Sierra changed the course of our local tribes’ lives forever. Stories are handed down through generations and old memories run deep. Yet, thanks to the Chicken Ranch Rancheria and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians’ Tribal Councils’ tenacity and devotion to this land and its peoples, we work together with respect and to the mutual benefit of all who come here.